§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which prisoners are eligible to follow training schemes provided within HM prisons. [132491]
§ Mr. BoatengThe purpose of education and training in prisons is to address the offending behaviour of prisoners by improving their employability and so reduce the likelihood of their re-offending on release. All prisoners, including those removed from association, in segregation units or in hospital units, should have the opportunity to participate in educational activities.
Prisoners under 18 years of age must spend on average at least 30 hours per week engaged in purposeful activity, including education, training, work, physical education and offending behaviour programmes.
All prisoners allocated to work undertake an induction programme which covers health and safety issues, first aid, and workshop practice.
Offending Behaviour Programmes seek to address the cognitive deficits (poor thinking skills) which cause prisoners to offend in order to prevent recidivism. To be successful, they must be targeted on those prisoners who have been assessed as having the kinds of cognitive deficits which the existing programmes are seeking to address. This inevitably means that some prisoners are excluded from participation.